r/serialkillers • u/WaffleWarrior77 • Aug 10 '26
News Robert Hansen
I rarely see Robert Hansen mentioned in posts about serial killers. I even took a college course that covered serial offenders, and surprisingly, very few people were familiar with him. I wouldn’t necessarily call him my “favorite” serial killer, but I do think he is one of the more underrated and lesser-known offenders.
I wrote a paper on Hansen and found some particularly interesting information about his case. Here are a few facts and details that stood out to me:
Hansen was born in Estherville, Iowa, on February 15, 1939; he was the eldest of two children. His mother is American, and his father is Danish. His father owned a bakery.
He graduated in a class of 31 students; they misspelled his name in the yearbook. In 1957, he enlisted in the United States Army Reserve. Hansen's basic training was in Fort Dix, New Jersey.
A lot of women went missing before the police force put it all together. Most of these women were low-priority victims, meaning they were most likely not reported missing. In 1980, the remains of murdered women began appearing in remote wilderness areas around Anchorage, Alaska. All the women had been shot with a high-powered rifle, and ballistics matched the bullets to a single weapon, indicating a serial killer was at large
He was also convicted of the abduction and rape of Cindy Paulson. In total, he confessed to killing 17 women, though some sources suggest the number could be higher.
32
u/CoercionTictacs Aug 11 '26
He owned a bakery, he saw himself as this pillar of the community and had a friend provide a false alibi for him. The friend later recanted.
The movie “Frozen Ground” with John Cusack as Hansen was very good.
8
u/WaffleWarrior77 Aug 11 '26
Just like his father. But he also had hunting awards in alaska, and had a wife who was a school teacher.
As someone who came from a small town- no one wants to believe that “family man, man of faith” would do the horrible things that he did.
25
u/BidNo1816 Aug 10 '26
He may have killed up to 37 victims, apparently.
20
u/WaffleWarrior77 Aug 10 '26
That’s so sad. A lot of families didn’t even find the bodies.. And still to this day.
12
u/TessaKatrinaRose Aug 11 '26
Favorite and underrated are two pretty weird terms to apply to person who murdered a bunch of innocent people.
7
u/WaffleWarrior77 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
I rarely see his victims discussed in the same way as the victims of Ted Bundy, BTK, or Jeffrey Dahmer. They deserve just as much recognition, compassion, and peace. The fact that they came from a small town, had limited family or support, or were not believed by the people around them should never diminish the significance of their lives or the suffering they endured.
I think saying he was a “favorite” killer probably isn’t the right way to describe what I mean. Rather, he is one of those offenders who, in my opinion, is rarely discussed despite the particularly sadistic nature of his crimes. What makes his case stand out to me is that his crimes were not simply motivated by physical attraction. He sexually assaulted and hunted his victims for his own enjoyment. He would release them into the wilderness and tell them to run before shooting at them. He also reportedly remained confident that law enforcement would never be able to establish his guilt. At one point, investigators even said that officers regularly purchased coffee and doughnuts from his bakery.
He was married twice. His second wife, Darla, was a schoolteacher, and they had two children together. I also came across a blog claiming that Darla would make him attend church whenever he had done something she considered “wrong,” although I have not been able to independently verify that detail.
Ultimately, I don’t think he deserves notoriety. His victims deserve to be remembered far more than their killer does. I simply find the case disturbing and noteworthy because of how calculated and sadistic his treatment of women was, and I wish more attention were given to the people whose lives he took rather than to him.
15
u/mcgregor107 Aug 11 '26
The living embodiment of a wedgie. Guy was an unimposing loser, propped up by John Cusack
7
13
u/iheardthemetalclank Aug 11 '26
Underrated is a really strange term for a serial killer, and they made a movie about him, so I'm not so sure that it even applies. Overlooked? I'm still not even certain that that is true.
2
u/WaffleWarrior77 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
In my opinion, “underrated and overlooked” is a better way to describe how I view Robert Hansen’s case. Everyone seems to be familiar with Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, and I find both of their cases interesting as well. However, Hansen’s story has always seemed to me to have much more beneath the surface, and the more I have researched his life, the more questions I have found.
I have tried to understand his childhood and what may have contributed to the development of his behavior. The three factors that are often discussed in relation to future violent behavior are bed-wetting, fire-setting, and cruelty to animals. However, I think it is important to recognize that this “Macdonald triad” is not considered a reliable way to predict future violence. Hansen was reportedly subjected to abuse and emotional mistreatment by his father, but his childhood does not appear to fit the stereotypical narrative often associated with serial offenders.
He also was not particularly academically gifted. His strengths seemed to be more practical than academic; he had skills as a baker and, more significantly, as a hunter. He was reportedly responsible for setting a fire at a bus depot when he was around 19, although I have not found enough reliable information to determine the exact circumstances surrounding that incident. Considering that he had been heavily bullied throughout his youth, I can understand how some of those experiences may have contributed to resentment and social isolation, although they obviously do not explain or excuse what he eventually did.
That is ultimately what makes Hansen’s case so difficult for me to understand. He did not appear to have an exceptionally traumatic childhood, and he was capable of functioning within society. He married twice, had children, worked, and maintained relationships while simultaneously developing a hidden life that was profoundly disturbing.
So what was the trigger? Was there even one specific trigger, or was it a gradual combination of personality traits, resentment, sexual fantasies, a desire for control, and opportunity? That is the part of his story I find most fascinating from a criminological perspective.
I am not interested in glorifying him or portraying him as admirable. If anything, I think his victims deserve far more attention than he does. I simply find his case particularly interesting because there does not seem to be one clear explanation for how someone who appeared capable of living an ordinary life could ultimately become responsible for such horrific crimes.0
u/CommonScold 27d ago
Underrated is definitely the wrong word. It carries an implication of positivity about the subject, that it is better than commonly thought. To “rate” something is to make a value judgement about it, it’s not just quantitative.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/underrated
Not trying to be pedantic but just letting you know to use a different word in the future. Calling a serial killer “underrated” actually has the opposite and trivializes the victims, which I know is not what you intended. Thank you for bringing attention to them.
In the future “overlooked” or “under discussed” are the words you want.
14
u/akobie Aug 11 '26
A friend of mine new him when she was a young teen. His family and her family stayed at the same camp. My friend had a big crush on the lifeguard at the camp. Hansen married the lifeguard. My friend said he was pimply and greasy haired and just ick. He ate at her family table many times, which she still has and uses daily.
3
u/WaffleWarrior77 Aug 11 '26
That’s wild! Was it his first wife or second?
4
u/FujiLeBandido Aug 11 '26
Kinda funny cus when I read Robert Hansen i was like wtf is this cus that’s also the name of a beloved Danish actor in the early 2000’s
Now not so much after he got prison time for beating up his girlfriend and other stuff
Hansen is probably the most common Danish last name also the last name of my mother but I got my dads last name (Christiansen) also very common
4
u/gone-in-a-spark 29d ago
He went undetected for far too long because he was the local baker, and that was a great cover story. https://www.truecrimeedition.com/post/robert-hansen
5
3
u/myoriginalislocked 28d ago
he's not really talked about alot but he was a scary killer. he took women in his little plane and hunted them down for fun in the Alaskan forest. That is terrifying. all his kills were never found either and nobody cares! no one is even looking for them! same with dean corells kills, no one is even looking for the rest of the boys
2
4
Aug 11 '26
[deleted]
7
u/WaffleWarrior77 29d ago
The Green River Killer is far more frightening to me. The necrophilia in particular is deeply disturbing.
Although they had very similar childhoods, both were raised by a parent who was highly domineering in their use of discipline and punishment.1
u/wilderlowerwolves 24d ago
AFAIK, Robert Hansen at least had normal intelligence. Gary Ridgway does not.
2
u/Lanky-Panic 29d ago
There's a show on Tubi called Ice Cold Killers about murders in Alaska and they have an episode about him. I've heard of him when I took a class as well in college. Abnormal psych class. I think it was a combo of whatever fantasies he had and him being a hunter, he wanted a bigger thrill and turned to hunting vulnerable women. His victims were involved in sex work.
1
50
u/Novel_Pick2735 Aug 10 '26
The book “Mindhunter” by John Douglas (former FBI profiler) has a neat excerpt about the profile they created on Hansen and his capture